Clip-on optical accessories are known in the art. As one example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,136 discloses an optical accessory of the type used by medical professionals with a clip-on mount, enabling the entire assembly to be used with ordinary eyeglass frames. In an alternative embodiment, the assembly may be used with specialized frames, in which case the clip-on mount may be removed for a more permanent mounting of the assembly directly to the bridge area of the eyeglass frames. In different implementations, optical accessories in the form of ocular loupes, head lamps, and miniaturized video cameras may be accommodated.
Combination camera and loupe arrangements have also been disclosed. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,166 is directed to an optical accessory mounting system that takes the form of a shaped wire frame having a proximal section attachable to the bridge portion of a pair of eyeglass frames or to a headband, a mid-section extending downwardly along and in spaced-apart conformity with the ridge of a wearer's nose, and a distal section which is preferably bent upwardly with respect to the mid-section, optionally, the mid-section may include an adjustable nose pad adapted to make contact against the ridge of the user's nose for improved weight distribution, with the distal section being configured to mountably receive one of a variety of accessories, including vision aids such as light sources, imaging apparatus such as lightweight camera devices. Although light sources and camera devices may be accommodated, and although they are independently adjustable, the wire frame configuration is bulky and somewhat awkward when used with loupe mountings.